Friday, June 4, 2010

An exchange of e-mails about item 08-09

I have been involved in an exchange of e-mails concerning item 08-09 with its horrendous attachment written by the Israel/Palestine Mission Network. You can read about that here. An overture filled with fury: anti-Semitism again. Not wanting to direct my first e-mail to Carol Hylkema, Moderator of IPMN, because of her past responses to my inquiry about information in the booklet Steadfast Hope, I wrote to the Executive Director of the GAMC, Linda Valentine.

Valentine’s Executive Secretary responded to let me know she was away. However, today, June, 4, 1910, Dr. Hunter Farrell sent a helpful e-mail which included a suggestion to write Carol Hylkema, and I have done so. Following are all of the correspondence in order. If Ms Hylkema responds I will post her e-mail as I believe all Presbyterian (U.S.A.) members are touched and affected in several ways by the words the IPMN wrote in the attachment.

My e-mail to Linda Valentine:“Dear Linda,

Please forgive me for bothering you at this busy time in our denomination. I would not do it but once again I am so very upset with the Israel/Palestine Mission Network. This is about the paper they have written that is attached to item 08-09, “On Referring “Christian and Jews: People of God” and “Understanding Christian-Muslim Relations.” The paper attached is, 111 Refer Papers Attachment.pdf.

I understand that we can all differ on the Israel and Palestine issues, but to tell lies about the Jewish citizens of the United States is a black mark on our Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). This is part of the reason for my objections. The author’s state:

“By neglecting the reality on the ground, this report [the Jewish paper] would “make nice” with certain American Jewish organizations to avoid unwarranted charges of anti-Semitism. These are the organizations that have provided financial and political support for the Israeli occupation and colonization of Palestinian lands since 1948, and used threat and intimidation to censor debate about Israel within and without the Jewish community.1 A report that confesses Christian guilt for the past and calls for changes in our theology and practice but neglects to mention the contribution of American synagogues to the oppression of Palestinians over the past six decades appears to us as inauthentic interfaith dialogue.” (Underline the authors of the paper [there was an underline where I have placed italics-there seems to be no way to do that on blogger])

Connected to the statement about threats is this footnote:

"1 The package (a bomb?) sent to 100 Witherspoon St in 2004, the fire in a Rochester church, the picketing of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship event at GA when Professor Norman Finkelstein was a featured speaker, and the many visits of teams of Jewish neighbors to local Presbyterian churches are examples of these tactics. This type of censorship and intimidation is so frequent that Jewish Voice for Peace has created a special website to document it. See www.muzzlewatch.com/ "[I can find no such information about bombs or a church fire in Rochester on that site]

You will note that the package sent is undoubtedly the letter sent by a lone individual threatening to burn down churches. He was arrested. He was not connected to any Jewish organization. That is now documented. Many have searched for a record of the Rochester church fire and have not found it. There was a fire in a church close to Rochester in May of 2004. It was caused by lightening. See http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2004/04245.htm

So my question. What is going to be done about an organization that keeps slandering and lying about the Jewish people and that in our name? We cannot get to the real dilemmas of the Middle East situation because of the need to defend the Jewish people against IPMN. Please tell me what I and others can do about this. Please tell me what the GAMC will do about this. Please do not tell me it is not the business of the GAMC.

In the fellowship of our Lord Jesus Christ,Viola Larson

Dr. Hunter Farrell’s e-mail to me:

Dear Ms. Larson,Thank you for your letter to Linda Valentine in which you voiced concerns regarding some of the statements of the Israel/Palestine Mission Network. Linda has asked me to respond to your letter. Although the Network does not speak on behalf of the General Assembly or the General Assembly Mission Council, it is nonetheless very helpful to know of your concerns regarding what the Network does and says.

Please know that we are in ongoing conversation with the Network about its work and positions, and have raised questions with them about a number of issues and materials they have created or made available to the church at large. We are also revising our guidelines for all Mission Networks in ways that we hope will clarify the relationship between the work and communications of any network and the policies and standards of the General Assembly.

As you know well, we are a church of many different opinions, all members of the body of Christ. We remain open to listen to the differing voices among our members to discern what the Spirit may be saying to the Church. We believe that we owe respectful attention to what different groups are saying, whether we agree with them or not.

I would encourage you to be in contact with Carol Hylkema, who is the Moderator of the Israel/Palestine Mission Network, so that you can raise and discuss your concerns with the Network directly. She can be reached via moderator@israelpalestinemissionnetwork.org.

Dr. Hunter Farrell has suggested I write to you. I have hesitated in doing so because of the response I got to my last inquiry about the booklet Steadfast Hope. But nevertheless, urged on by Farrell I will do so. I am extremely bothered by Israel/Palestine Mission Network's attachment to Item 08-09. That is 111 Refer Papers Attachment.pdf. I believe your organization has, in this document, lied about the Jewish organizations in the United States. This is part of what I wrote to Linda Valentine in an e-mail that Dr. Farrell has responded to. I am sending this quote so you will understand what I am referring to.

"I understand that we can all differ on the Israel and Palestine issues, but to tell lies about the Jewish citizens of the United States is a black mark on our Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). This is part of the reason for my objections. The author’s state:

“By neglecting the reality on the ground, this report [the Jewish paper] would “make nice” with certain American Jewish organizations to avoid unwarranted charges of anti-Semitism. These are the organizations that have provided financial and political support for the Israeli occupation and colonization of Palestinian lands since 1948, and used threat and intimidation to censor debate about Israel within and without the Jewish community.1 A report that confesses Christian guilt for the past and calls for changes in our theology and practice but neglects to mention the contribution of American synagogues to the oppression of Palestinians over the past six decades appears to us as inauthentic interfaith dialogue.”

Connected to the statement about threats is this footnote:

"1 The package (a bomb?) sent to 100 Witherspoon St in 2004, the fire in a Rochester church, the picketing of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship event at GA when Professor Norman Finkelstein was a featured speaker, and the many visits of teams of Jewish neighbors to local Presbyterian churches are examples of these tactics. This type of censorship and intimidation is so frequent that Jewish Voice for Peace has created a special website to document it. See www.muzzlewatch.com/ "[I can find no such information about bombs or a church fire in Rochester on that site]

You will note that the package sent is undoubtedly the letter sent by a lone individual threatening to burn down churches. He was arrested. He was not connected to any Jewish organization. That is now documented. Many have searched for a record of the Rochester church fire and have not found it. There was a fire in a church close to Rochester in May of 2004. It was caused by lightening . See http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2004/04245.htm "

I am asking you, as the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)Israel/Palestine Mission Network, on behalf of your organization, to either produce evidence of your accusations or apologize to both the Jewish organizations which you have slandered and the Presbyterian members whose names you have blackened.

Hi Steve,I read through your article and I hate to tell you this but although I am fairly sure there is no tooth fairy there was a Santa Claus in the early years of Christianity. He helped the poor and even spent some time in prison for bring a Christian.

You see some stories are more complex then just the way people sometimes learn them. I think first you learned the ideal story from your Jewish friends and teachers and then you learned the ideal story from your Arab and pro-Palestinian friends. The truth is different than that.

There were outrageous acts on both sides. There still is. The wall is for defense but it could be closer to what is called the green line, etc. etc. Why don’t you ever write about what I have written?

Hey, I was handed a copy of "Steadfast Hope" at our last presbytery meeting! I wonder who paid for it? No I don't. The presbytery paid. And yet the presbytery also voted to reject the San Francisco overtures! So the Peacemaking Committee gets to use money in their budget from the presbytery for propaganda?

Viola posted a great deal on this booklet. http://naminghisgrace.blogspot.com/2009/07/more-from-israelpalestine-mission.html

andhttp://naminghisgrace.blogspot.com/search/label/Steadfast%20Hope

(The first link is directly to the portion of the booklet that cites shlomo sand and says, "Thus, he argues, many of today’s Israelis who emigrated from Europe after World War II have little or no genealogical connection to the ancient land of Israel.”

Thanks for your detective work Will.So I guess I won't have to read it after all. It appears it was Viola's interpretation and her comment here that was faulty. There really was no statement as she suggested, unless of course you missed it.I really wish people would just tell the truth. These exagerations do no one any good at all.

“The founding narrative of the State of Israel links the modern-day Jews’ claim to the land of Israel/Palestine to their direct genealogical descent from the ancient Israelites. Recent anthropological scholarship shows that this widespread belief is very likely a myth, not historical fact. Shlomo Sand, an expert on European history at the university of Tel Aviv, and author of When and How Was the Jewish People Invented? posits that the Jews were never exiled en masse from the Holy Land and that many European Jewish populations converted to the faith centuries later. Thus, he argues, many of today’s Israelis who emigrated from Europe after World War II have little or no genealogical connection to the ancient land of Israel.”

Sorry to respond so late to this. I didn't realize until tonight that you posed a question to me. My first thought is that I have been writing about what you have written, Viola. I did the first time, when you wrote about quotes taken from my book Compartments that were included in the Presbyterian Church (USA) Middle East Study Report. At that time, I offered you a copy of the book so you could see the context from which those quotes were taken.

In the post on this topic, I was also writing about what your wrote, finding the misconceptions on which you focused to be quite minor in comparison to the monstrous misconceptions about the founding of Israel. Hundreds of thousands of peaceful Christian and Muslim men, women and children were violently expelled from their homes in order to create a Jewish state. The Jewish army had war plans (Plan D) that specifically called for the expulsions of the population and destruction of the villages. OK, you are right, there was clearly a misconception about the Rochester incident. I think focusing on that, rather than focusing on equal treatment for Jews, Christians and Muslims is missing the point.

Jews like me desperately seek peace and security. Christian and Muslim families desperately want to be able to return to their former homes and villages. I am so proud of the Presbyterian Church (USA) for seeing that those aren't mutually exclusive goals. When people come to love Jews, Christians and Muslims equally, I think we'll have peace in the context of real Zionism, a Zionism of Jews, Christians and Muslims coexisting peacefully together in the Holy Land.

Oh, I wanted also to clarify that my current understanding of the expulsions of Palestinians is based primarily on Israeli historians, not my "Arab and pro-Palestinian friends." If you aren't familiar with the Israeli historians who documented the expulsions, here is an excellent starting point: http://www.counterpunch.org/shavit01162004.html.

I have a lot of family in Israel and went to a religious Hebrew School growing up, so I think I have a good foundation in the Israeli narrative/fairy tale. But I do like to speak to Arab people every chance I get to better understand them. The more I talk to them, the more I realize they are driven by a desire to return to homes from which they were violently expelled, not by anti-Semitism. Hearing from the Presbyterians who have spent firsthand time in Israel/Palestine is another source that I respect highly.

God's promises, they never fail

About Me

Writer, Lover of books, interested in the history of intellectual and religious ideas, tend with love gardens and grandchildren. My husband, Brad, is a Steinway Piano tuner. We live in a hundred year old house that always needs repairs.

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Two links that I visit often are CHURCHandWORLD and GAhelp.net. CHURCHandWORLD is a site that gathers either Presbyterian or Methodist news from the whole spectrum of viewpoints. The Presbyterian section is entitled Presbyweb. Beneath the denominational section is a general section containing the day's religious news gathered from many sites. This is a subscription site. The General Editor is Hans Cornelder.

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